Blog #3: 5 tips for traveling while abroad

1. Plan out your weekends/travel dates well in advance (about a month or two), if you want to get the best deals. Flights from country to country can be SUPER cheap (I’m talking like $50 roundtrip cheap!) in Europe but you have to book about 6 weeks in advance to get those kinds of deals.  
2. If you plan to study abroad during spring and want to travel a lot during spring break, definitely plan that well in advance (before even arriving in Europe) to avoid paying tons of money for air/accommodations.  Many Europeans vacation during Easter which drives prices up like crazy, especially last minute.  My friends and I really wanted to go to Amsterdam but we waited to long and flights rose to about $600/roundtrip and hotels and Airbnb’s sky rocketed! It cost me way less to fly to Philadelphia for Easter than it would have to travel last minute throughout Europe.
3. Pack lightly!! Most budget airlines only allow a carry on bag and are very strict about it.  I’ve had airlines tell me I had to put my small purse inside my carry on just because I wasn’t allowed to have a personal item.  I’ve also had airlines tell me I had to either put on my jacket or to put it in the overhead bin for take off and landing.  Remember, no one in these other countries/cities are going to know you so no shame in repeating outfits! Also, wear your heaviest clothes/shoes onto the plan to save room in your luggage :)
4. When booking a place to stay, make sure you use maps to know the location you are in and that you are nearby to things you want to see.  If you plan on using public transportation while there, use the maps to find metro stops.  My friends and I used Airbnb for most of the places we travelled and we found that they had the best deals.  Hostels are a good option too but if you are traveling in a group it’s usually cheaper to split an Airbnb. 
5. If you are going to another country with a different language, learn some basics before getting there! I found it helpful to learn how to say “hello,” “thank you,” “please,” and “sorry” in whatever language for the country I was visiting.  The reason I chose these is because even if you are struggling with other words and phrases, these words show that you are polite and that usually goes over well with everyone.  Obviously you can’t learn the language of every single country (unless you can, that’s awesome!), but just practicing some of it on the ride there does a lot.  Just attempting the language is appreciated by most foreigners (although you’re the foreigner in this case) and they are more likely to help you if they see you are trying.  You may feel a little silly sometimes but it’s definitely worth it!

Blog #2: Fitting in

When choosing to study abroad in Milan, Italy, I knew I would have to pretend to know about fashion a bit but was not prepared for the reality of fashion in Italy, Milan especially.  Everyone is so well put together at all times!  Coming from Hawaii this was a harder transition than most other students since we are much more laid back here.  I remember throwing on some workout clothes to run to the grocery store really quickly for some dinner.  The supermarket was about 2 blocks from my apartment and the trip would take me about 15-20 minutes total.  No need to waste decent clothes on a quick trip to the store… so I thought.  I have never had some many people look at me like I was crazy.  You would have thought I was walking around with a costume on.  

Eventually I learned that my safest bet when trying to decide what to wear was to just go with dark colors.  Most days I wore black jeans or leggings, a sweater, and my gray dress coat, with some boots.  As it started to get warmer I noticed Italians started wearing brighter colors but no where close to what we wear in Hawaii.  

As much as I wanted to be comfortable and just wear simple clothes everyday, I learned that it was easier to try to fit in then to deal with all the consequences of looking different.  By not fitting in you are opening yourself up to pick pocket-ers that target tourists.  I’ve had multiple friends get their phones and wallets stolen.  Another annoying fact of not fitting in is the looks you get.  I rather just wear dark colors and blend in than have 20 people staring at me on the subway for wearing workout clothes to class!

Blog #1: Preparing for travel 

This was my first time in Europe.  I have travelled outside of the United States before but never for such an extended period of time.  There are some things you should know before leaving for your study abroad experience.  The first thing is that, if you plan on doing some shopping and want to explore the fashion of wherever you are going, pack lightly.  Because I studied in Milan, Italy, the fashion capital of the world, I knew I wanted to do a lot of shopping! I packed lightly and brought a lot of basic clothing that I could easily add accessories to.  I’m not a girl that’s usually into fashion at all, but I definitely wanted to leave room for souvenirs. 

Something else you should know, especially if you have a layover in another country, is that they might only do passport check at your layover but not when you arrive in the country you are studying in.  This was confusing for me because I had a layover in Portugal and followed the crowd to a huge line.  At first I wasn’t sure what I was waiting for but then I realized we were getting our passports stamped.  You want to be sure to give yourself sufficient time to wait in a long line before your connecting flight.  I was running a little low on time and stressing out because I only had about 90 minutes between flights.

A final tip for preparing to go abroad is to make sure you bring basics such as towels, school supplies, toiletries, etc. to hold you over until you are able to find a store to buy these things at.  I didn’t bring a shower towel because I didn’t want to waste room in my luggage but that resulted in me drying myself with a swifter towel, that I found in a grocery store, for 2 weeks.  In Italy, Milan specifically, there aren’t many stores like Target or Walmart that carry everything you need for reasonable prices.  It wasn’t until a few weeks in that some friends and I travelled a Primark, about 30 minutes away, that had some affordable towels to buy.  There was a store near my apartment that sold towels but they were about 30 Euro and I was not willing to spend that kind of money for a bath towel.  Just make sure you think of the little, everyday items that you use. 

Aoyama Chat Room

One of the best experiences that I have had during my entire study abroad trip to Aoyama was having the opportunity to work as a Chat Leader in their “Chat Room.” The Chat Room is similar to a tutoring center, such as our Academic Center here at HPU, however the services provided here solely focus on helping AGU students to practice a language that they were learning on campus. Most Japanese students come in to practice their English abilities, and a very small percentage come in to practice other languages such as French, Spanish, Korean, and Chinese. Because of the fact that English Chat Leaders are so high in demand, the Chat Room has broken up their sessions into sections of difficulty: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. These sectioned services are made available to Aoyama’s High School students, University students, as well as local Shibuya residents who don’t necessarily attend Aoyama Schools, but register for these sessions just to help them practice and enhance their English speaking skills. These Chat Sessions are also made available to the Elementary School as well as the Junior High School, although working with these students are a bit different compared to working with the high schoolers and up. In the Chat Room, the Upper Division students (High School and up), each group can range from 2-6 students per Chat Leader, and for every day there is a predetermined theme, which helps Chat Leaders to start up a conversation. The Chat Leader can choose whether or not to continue on with the theme for the entire duration of their chat session, but they are also welcome to change the subject if the students in their group feel comfortable or are passionate about another topic. For the Elementary School sessions, Chat Leaders are asked to host a game with the students as best as they can using only English. As for the Junior High School sessions, Chat Leaders can choose whether to host a game with their group, or have a casual conversation with the students. It’s more of a free-for-all type of situation when it comes to the Junior High Schoolers because of the fact that they are more advanced than the Elementary Schoolers but not as advanced as the University and High School students. I was fortunate enough to be able to work with all grade levels from Elementary Schoolers all the way to the Shibuya Residents sessions, and I am SO grateful that I did. I got to meet so many different people and made many friends from all ages. I enjoyed playing fun English games with the kids, and bonded quite a lot with the older students as well as we talked about topics ranging from fashion to politics. I found it really funny whenever the topic of relationships were brought up, especially with the girls in the Junior High School, because they were so interested and passionate about the topic! Overall, my experience in the Chat Room is the most memorable memory that I have from this study abroad trip, and I wouldn’t want to trade it for anything else in the world! If you plan to study abroad in Japan, I highly recommend applying to be a chat leader! It’s an experience that you most definitely won’t regret!

New AGU Chat Leaders Welcome Party!

My first time hosting an Elementary School Chat Session

Playing Pictionary with the Elementary School Students

More games with the kids! 

Chatting with the Junior High Schoolers

Learning about the Junior High School Students

More of the awesome Junior High School Students! 

English Training with the AGU Staff Members! 

Welcome Party for Shibuya Residents! 

My last day at the chat room ;~;

I'm going to miss everyone at AGU's Chatroom sooo much!!! <3 

Spooky Coffee Hour #2

Hello Hello! I am back with more photos and stories to tell!

Coffee Hour #2 was held a little over a week ago and it was Halloween themed. For my costume I stuck with the witches hat and some face tattoos! I also performed with UNITED this Coffee Hour, my friends and I danced to Produce 48's Rumor. The other members of UNITED performed Go Go by BTS, Ringa Linga Taeyong, and a mashup of Sunmi's Siren and Gashina. It was a blast and everyone had fun. There were a lot of people who dressed up somewhat and wore the face tattoos or face paint from the self serve station.

Afterwords, UNITED all ate out together and enjoyed each others company. The games that we placed were musical chairs and a flip the cup game. There was also a costume contest which my friend Kyra, won. She dressed up as Aang from The Last Airbender and she was a huge hit. Then after our dinner, other students from Global Village decided to get together and hang out by the dorms. We had a night full of laughter, fun, and good memories. It felt good to enjoy quality time with my friends and talk about whatever came to mind. Sometimes enjoying time with close friends is all anyone could ask for. I will never forget that night for as long as I can. I can't wait for what the next Coffee Hour has in store for me. Here are some photos with my friends in our 'costumes'.

South Korea, I have arrived!

Hello everyone! I am Janine Mabuti and I am a Sophomore and I am currently studying abroad in South Korea at Soonchunhyang University! It has been a month since I have arrived to South Korea and let me just tell you, I am having a blast. I have met many amazing people who have made this experience so much fun. The food here is AMAZING, and to be in a place that is so different from Hawaii is something that I feel honored to be able to experience.

In the month since I have been here, I have been to many different cities such as Onyang, Cheonan, Suwon. My friends and I have even traveled to Seoul and visited Myeongdong, Hongdae, Han River, Namsan Tower in our free time. I have been to Seoul before a year ago with my family and to come back was phenomenal. I am proud of myself for working hard in school to be able to come back to South Korea and study abroad.

For the living situation, there are 12 people to a suite, there are a total of 6 rooms with 2 people in reach room. Usually in each room, there is one foreign student and one Korean student. But there are times where in the very last room of the suite, there can be 2 Korean students which was the case for my suite. There are four buildings in Global Village, building A, B,  C, and D. I currently live in building D and my suite mates are very friendly and nice people that welcomed me easily. We have spent a lot of time staying up late to just chat with each other in our living room and just overall get to know each other better.

Classes and exchanges have started and my schedule is pretty packed during the weekdays. I am currently taking Korean Speaking, Korean Writing, Global Marketing, and International Trade and Finance. The two business classes are very interesting and it's a new subject that I have never really delved into, but I am excited for what we are going to learn and do in that class. My Korean classes on the other hand are a little tricky and difficult depending on what we are learning. I am proud to say though, that I am able to finally read hangul, which is something that I have always wanted to do. My speaking skills weren't bad before coming to Korea but I hope to improve my speaking and writing by the end of the semester.

We have also had our first Coffee Hour which was on the first day of Soonchunhyang's School Festival. I took part in Coffee Hour with the dance team, UNITED, where my friends and I did a cover to Red Velvet's Power up. It was a fun filled night with dancing and games. The dance team ate out all together afterwords and bonding some more over food. After that, we all headed on over to the school festival which was awesome. The entertainment was exciting and there were so many food booths that made my tummy happy. I enjoyed the night so much and I was ecstatic by the food and the good company.

Below are some photos from my one month here so far. Enjoy! Look forward to more blogs in the future!

My New Year in Japan

New year in Japan (Oshogatsu)

In Japan, you can observe many people spend their Japanese New Year (お正月) with traditional customs. The end of December people is getting busy to make sure that all the new year greeting cards (年賀状) are prepared so that friends and relatives can get it on time. Also, people do a clean up for their house in and out. On the 31st which is a very important day, people do not usually stay up late for the countdown, but Japanese eat soba (年越しそば) for dinner to wish for long life and luck. Nowadays, there are TV shows like Year-end Song Festival (紅白歌合戦), Johnny's Count Down Live (ジャニコン), comedian show (ダウンタウンのガキの使い) and so on. Thus, younger generations stay up late to countdown.

   In the tradition of Japanese religion, Shinto (神道), people go to shrines or temple to for the first shrine visit/first pray of the year (初詣) during the new year (1/1~1/7). People actually line up at midnight in front of the shrine to pray and drink hot Amasake (甘酒). Many big famous shrines and temples in the Tokyo area are packed. A friend of mine actually waited for an hour to pray.

The long queue in the late night for the first shrine visit @ Shinjuku

To avoid the crowd in Tokyo I went to a shrine 1.5hours off Tokyo in Kanagawa Prefecture, Oyamaafuri Shrine (大山阿夫利神社) which is located on the mountain Ooyama. Even Though it was freezing cold up there, there were not that many people and I got to enjoy the view of the Sagami Bay from the mountain. The hike was totally worth it and it is like 100% safer than some hiking trails in Hawai’i. After visiting the shrine I ate a seven-herb rice porridge (七草粥). January 7th is considered a day to sooth the body and eat some healthy food like this rice porridge. Back in the Heian period (794~1185) people already knew this seven kinds of herbs have rich nutrition in minerals that help then get away from getting sick. Every single herb actually has its own meaning and effects.

Oyamaafuri Shrine's stair

Although it is long the view and the fresh air is totally worth it.